Earth's Voices:

There is a collective pulse longing to connect with nature in a conversant way. There are so many beings all around us– the two leggeds, the four leggeds, the winged ones, the mountain spirits, the waters, those with roots and those with fins, all with their own distinct songs, desires, medicines, wisdoms, rememberings, prayers and offerings that speak and gesture towards an interconnectedness of all life. The world around us speaks.

How do we as humans learn to listen to each individual flowering of creation, listen to these voices of the Earth?

Each session of Earth’s Voices will be dedicated to understanding and listening to one spirit, being, form of life, or sacred place upon or of our shared, earthen domain. Prior to the invocation with Kontomble, we will be engaging some of the stories that we know in our human tongues about some of these beings. This brief introduction will draw on a vast range of resources in the hopes of re-membering and re-igniting the intersections between myth and science; spirit and activism while at the same time opening up a space for the voices of the Kontombles, and the many voices of the Earth in their distinction, to be heard directly and deeply listened too.

Episode 1: Pele Speaks

With host, Chelsea…

Chelsea was born and raised within the dramatic skies and landscapes of Oregon’s High Desert, amidst a crescent string of seven volcanic mountains and along the glacial banks of Wychus Creek, a tributary of the Deschutes River which in turn feeds into the grand Columbia–just above the ancient, holy trysting place of Celilo Falls–before journeying out to sea. She carries a Masters Degree in Cultural Anthropology and a deep love and appreciation for people, history, mythic intelligence and the immense beauty of the natural world. Her longing heart has led her into an ongoing, humbling, and nourishing study in Bolad’s Kitchen with Martin Prechtel, to whom much of her ideas, language, and subtle framing (though in no way an adequate reflection of) is deeply influenced by and thoroughly indebted to. Additionally, her deepest teachers have been her ancestors–her long line of grandmothers and grandfathers– Kontomble, her family and community, and the starry wisdom that dwells within the flowering heart, in all her many forms, of our beloved Earth.